Girder for traveling cranes



(N'Model.)

i 6 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. WEIOKEL. GIRDBR FOR TRAVELING GRANES.

No. 499,622. PmentedJurie 13,1893.

6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.) Y H. WEIGK-EL. GIRDBR POR TRAVELING GRANBS. No. 499,622.Patented June 13,1893.

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6 Sheets--Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

H. WEICKEL. GIBDER FOR TRAVELING GRANES. W

No. 499,622. Patented June 13, 1893.

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H. WEIGKEL.

GIRDER FOR TRAVELING GRANES.

190.499,622. Patented June 13, 1893.

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H. WEICKBL. GIRDER FOR TRAVELING GRANES.

No. 499,622. Patented June 13, 1893.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

H. WBICKBL. GIRDER FOR TRAVELING GRANES.

No. 499,622. Patented June 13,1893@ Tue-Nbnms Pneus cof, How-urna.,nimm-mu, u. c.

' stiffness and strength in this way.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY WEICKEL, OF DARIEN, ASSIGNOR TO THE YALE & TOWNE MANU- FACTURINGCOMPANY, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

GIRDER FOR TRAVELING CRANES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,622, dated June 13,1893.

Application tiled April 30, 1892. Serial No. 431,273- (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WEICKEL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Darien, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut,have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction ofGir-ders for Traveling Cranes,ot` which the following is aspecification.

In the use of traveling cranes, the stress resulting from the load whenthe bridge is at rest is practically Vertical, so that for thissituation it would only be necessary to design and build girderssufficiently strong to resist this Vertical strain. But when the load issuspended and the bridge is traveling on a horizontal track, it isapparent that when the movement begins a severe horizontal strain occursin starting the load from a state of rest into motion. This strainexists so long as the bridge is in motion, but is most severe instarting 'and stopping and becomes more serious in proportion to theamount of the load, the speed and the length of the bridge, In the caseof an ordinary girder, or with an I beam, this side strain is providedfor in a measure by the top and bottom horizontal anges. In some cases,with plate girders the flanges are made wider. and stiffer by bolting orriveting either a flat iron or angle iron to the sides of the anges butfor severe strains it is not practicable to provide sufficienthorizontal Girders have also been stiffened by the use of supplementallateral girders fastened to the top or bottom of the main girder, as thecase may be, and braced against the opposite iange of the main girder bydiagonals; but this construction induces a side thrust, and a consequenttendency to deflection of the flange of the girder against which thesediagonals are braced and a resulting tendency to torsion andoscillation. It will be understood that the difficulty referred to ispeculiar to traveling crane bridges for the reason that the main girdersof such bridges require a clear space between them for working thetrolley tackle and hence the lateral bracing trusses can be applied onthe outer sides only of such bridge girders. These lateral and torsionalstrains and consequent oscillation are what it is particularly desiredto obviate and avoid, in the case of traveling-crane-girders.

To this end my invention consists in attaching to the main girder,preferably in the planes of its upper and lower chords, one or morehorizontal trusses of light but stiff construction, and supporting theouter chords of these horizontal trusses by an auxiliary girder, ofwhich they may form the top and bottom chords, as hereinafter described,when two such horizontal trusses are employed. This auxiliary girder,which is preferably of latticed construction, but for short spans may bea beam such as a channel, or I-beam, may be supported at its ends eitherupon the truckframes at the two ends of the crane-bridge, or upon astiff beam or arm bolted across the main girders of the bridge near eachof its ends. The results of this construction are that any tendency inthe upper and lower chords of the main girder to lateral or horizontaldeflection is resisted by the horizontal trusses above mentioned., thesetrusses in turn being maintained in their proper positions, preferablyin the two planes respectively of the upper and lower chords of the maingirder, by being supported on one side by the main girder itself and onthe other side by the auxiliary Vertical girder or truss alreadymentioned. Obviously the construction of the main girder in any of theusual forms which are symmetrical introduces no element of twisting orof bending except in the vertical plane. My invention accomplishes thestiffening ofthis girder horizontally to any desired extentwithoutintroducing any twist= ing or torsional strains.

While it is preferable for very long spans to apply lateral trusses toboth the top and the bottom of the main girder and to support these byan auxiliary vertical girder as above stated, it is practicable, withcomparatively short spans, to carry out my invention by the use of asingle lateral truss, the outer chord of which is supported by anauxiliary girder or where more convenient a beam such as a channel-beamor I-beam may be substituted for a built up girder. This auxiliarygirder or beam may be supported at its ends, either directly upon thetruck frame or upon IOO l case, but serves only to support the outerchords of the horizontal truss or trusses, so that they may producetheir desired eifect of stiening the main girder against lateral orhorizontal deiiection without producing any twisting strain.

In order that my invention and the manner of carrying it into effect maybe fully understood, it will now be described in detail, with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a perspective viewof a traveling crane illustrating my invention, resting on temporarysupports and with the truck wheels removed. Fig. II is a perspectiveView of the same mounted in operating position on the elevated ways.Fig. III is a plan of one side of the structure showing a top view ofone of the horizontal trusses. Fig. IV is a horizontal section showing atop View of the lower horizontal truss. Fig. V is a transverse sectionshowing both the upper and lower horizontal trusses. Fig. VI is a frontelevation of a bridge or girder of moderate span in which a singlehorizontal truss is employed, attached to the web of the main girder.The outer chord of this truss is formed of an auxiliary girder to aordvertical support, which in this illustration is in the form of a channelbeam as shown in Fig. VIII. It will be noticed also that in this drawingthe bridge is made from an I-beam. The particular construction of thebridge or of auxiliary girder is not material to my invention. Fig. VIIis a plan view of one side of the saine. Fig. VIII is a transversesection thereof on the line VIII--VIIL I build a bridge for travelingcranes with main girders, 1, 1, constructed in any usual or suitablemanner. For the purpose of illustration I have shown each of saidgirders constructed with a central web 2 to the upper edge of which arebolted horizontal angle bars 3, 3, surmounted by a plate 4 to receivethe track rails 5 for the carryingwheels of the A. trolley. To the lowerconvex edge of the web 2 are bolted angle bars 6` and a horizontalplate7 and between the anges and the upper angle bars 3` and lower bars6 vertical plates or flanges 8, 9 are secured, which give increasedstiffness and transverse strength to the girder and afford means ofattachment for my horizontal truss frames presently to be described. Themain gil-ders 1, 1, are as usual united at their ends by any necessarynumber of transverse horizontal beams 10, 11 constituting the frame inwhich the gearing for moving the bridge and operating the crane has itsbearings and from which the operating cage 12 is suspended. The journalsof the truck wheels 13 of the bridge have their bearings in brackets 14,15, mounted upon the sides of the bridge-girders near their ends, in anyusual or suitable manner. The trolley 16 and its accessories whichtravel on the transverse rails 5, the mechanism for operating the same,the operating mechanism within the cage 12 and other necessary parts notherein specifically described may be of usual construction.

To take up thesevere horizontal strain applied to the brid'ge-girders inmoving the loaded crane upon the longitudinal ways 17, I attach to theside of each main girder l, a horizontal truss 18, suitably constructedto render it light and stiff and with traveling cranes of large span, inaddition to the horizontal truss I8 applied to they side of the maingirder at or near its top, I apply a second truss 19 at or near thebottom of the main girder, extending horizontally therefrom and curvedon a line parallel with the convex lower edge of the ma-in girder. It isnot essential, however, that the truss should be parallel with the edgeof the girder, as in some cases I accomplish substantially the sameresults in a cheaper manner by making the lower truss straight. Theouter chords 1S, 19, of the trusses 18, 19, are connected by means of anauxiliary, vertical, latticed girder 2O for mutual support.

In practice the chords or outer longitudinal members 18a, 19a, of theupper and lower horizontal trusses, 18, 19, may constitute the upper andlower stringers or longitudinal members respectively of the auxiliarygirder 20. For illustration I have shown the outer stringers 18a, 19, ofthe horizontal trusses thus connected by diagonal braces 20 for mutualsupport, so that they form the upper and lower stringers of theauxiliary girder. The auxiliary girder is supported at its ends upon anypart of the truck frames or to the main girders near their ends so as torelieve the intermediate parts of the girders of any twisting therefrom.

The horizontal trusses 18, 19 which under my improved construction maybe extended to any necessary width, afford eectual means for taking upthe heavy transverse strains to which the bridge-girders of a travelingcrane are subjected under motion, and rigid vertical support, beingprovided for the outer chords of the combined horizontal trusses, 18,19,the main girders are relieved from torsional or deflecting strains towhich they are subjected with constructions in common use. I therebygreatly increase the strength and endurance of the structure andeliminate the principal cause of the oscillatory action which is acommon experience in the operation of traveling cranes and which besidesinterfering seriously with the work is highly injurious to the structureitself.

For cranes of comparatively short span for example 20'feet or less Iaccomplish the de-l sired result by the use of only one truss, the

outer chord of which is supported by an auxil- IOO iary girderor beam,which latter is supported at its ends by the truck frames, or by abracket or arm fastened near the ends of the main girder. travelingcranes of comparatively short span is illustrated in Figs. VI, VII andVIII. In this construction as in the other a horizontal truss 1S of anydesirable width is fastened to the side of the main girder l and theouter chord 18a thereof is effectively supported by its ends without anyvertical diagonal braces, or any connections with the main girder angesadapted to resist vertical strains and in so doing apply torsionalstrains to the main girder.

Having thus fully described my invention, the following is what I claimas new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A traveling crane bridge girder oonstructed with a horizontal bracingtruss eX- tending laterally from the outer side of the main girder andhaving its outer chord supported vertically at or near the ends of theThis application of my invention to main girder, whereby the centralparts of the main girder are relieved of torsional strains,substantially as herein described.

2. In combination with a traveling crane bridge, a pair of horizontaltrusses connected to the upper and lowerchords respectively of each maingirder of the bridge and braced together so as to provide an outerauxiliary girder aiording support to said horizontal trusses, asexplained.

3. A bridge for traveling cranes having lateral trusses projectinghorizontally from the upper and lower chords respectively on the outerside of each main girder and diagonal braces uniting the outer chords ofsaid lateral trusses whereby they are supported at points near the endsof the main girder and the intermediate parts thereof are relieved oftorsional strains.

HENRY VEICKEL. Witnesses:

SCHUYLER MERRITT, GEO. E; WHITE.

